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Governing for and through harmonious community: The emergence of moral clinics in China

Author

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  • Shaoying Zhang

    (Shanghai University of Political Science and Law, China)

  • Derek McGhee

    (Keele University, UK)

Abstract

In this article, we advocate the adoption of ‘more temporal and processual characters’ to understand contemporary community governance in China. We show that communities in China are seen both as producing moral problems and as being the solutions to these problems. Furthermore, we argue that the establishment of the moral clinic provides an alternative to neoliberal ways of self-governance. In the article, we present moral clinics as a new form of community self-governance whose aim is to achieve a complex balance between various conflicts in the context of China’s unprecedented urbanisation in the name of governing for and through community harmony. Through examining the establishment of moral clinics, we expose how the relationship between the moral ‘hospitalisation’ of society and the socialisation of individuals can be understood in new ways. We argue that the institutionalisation of this ‘moral work’ is a strategy based on old techniques of Chinese traditional medicine that are being enhanced by modern organisational settings. In addition, we examine the micropolitics of the moral clinic through exposing the power relations behind its structural design, and especially its links with the state.

Suggested Citation

  • Shaoying Zhang & Derek McGhee, 2021. "Governing for and through harmonious community: The emergence of moral clinics in China," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(11), pages 2369-2385, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:58:y:2021:i:11:p:2369-2385
    DOI: 10.1177/0042098020940640
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. John Flint, 2012. "The Inspection House and Neglected Dynamics of Governance: The Case of Domestic Visits in Family Intervention Projects," Housing Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(6), pages 822-838.
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    Cited by:

    1. Bradley J. Koch & Pamela Tremain Koch & Yiheng Deng, 2023. "China and U.S. organizational culture via value statements: an emic-etic yin-yang approach," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 22(3), pages 1094-1130, July.

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